


The Lost Soul

by AboveReality



Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, F/M, Injury, Miscarriage, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-07-16 03:15:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16077197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AboveReality/pseuds/AboveReality
Summary: A nurse practitioner fights her demons as she tried to fight back the epidemic at its wrenching heart; the Pembroke Hospital.Then came a new doctor in town: Reid.Things don't add up for her and she starts to investigate. But the more she learns, the steeper the downward spiral gets and the more she gets sucked into situations no mere mortal must get in to.





	1. Prologue

Prologue ****  
  
  
Proverbs 28:13 – _Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses en renounces them finds mercy._

  
  
  
  
Sweat was dripping down the side of her face. Her ragged breathing muffled through facemask, as she was pushing with her outstretched arms down on the patient below her. Counting with each compression as Pippa stood in front of her, standing by. She stopped when she hit thirty and paused, trying to level out her breathing and elevated heart as she watched Pippa check his breathing.  
  
“Stopped the bleeding!” Came the muffled voice of Dr. Tippets on her left.  
  
They were performing an amputation when the patient started having cardiac arrest and uncontrollable bleeding.  
  
When Pippa met her eyes and shook her head, she cursed. “It doesn’t anymore Corcoran,” she announced and tore off her face mask after climbing off the surgery table. “He’s dead.”  
  
Dr. Tippets looked at her before putting his surgical tools away. “Shit.”  
  
“Miss Hawkins, please inform the medical staff and remake sir Richard’s former bed, for the next patient. I will take of the sir himself.” Pippa nodded at her command and walked away instantly.  
  
“Miss Walker, I will ask nurse Branagan to prepare the body  along with miss Crane, if you don’t feel up for it,” Dr. Tippets suggested. He walked towards her, removing his gloves. He placed a warm hand on her shoulder, his eyes gentle.  
  
Evelyn Walker looked away, feeling drained. Not only physically, but also mentally. This was the second patient today and the fourth in three days. The Penbroke Hospital almost began to turn into a morgue.  
  
“I would appreciate that, Dr. Tippets,” she finally whispered. Honest to herself and her own needs; which was seclusion at the moment. Perhaps she could talk with Pippa about it later, get it off her chest.  
  
“Get washed up, I’ll take care of it.”  
  
Evelyn nodded and wiped off her bloodied hands along her apron. She walked out of the operating suite and down the hall, eyes cast downwards and feet flying fast. Nurses and patients alike walked passed her, none of them sparing a look. The long-term patients and staff were already used to the daily blood and death; the sickening truth of the ongoing epidemic. The longer Evelyn though about it, the sicker she felt.  
  
It was 1918.  
  
The Spanish flu ravaged the world that was just recovering from their First World War. An unusually deadly influenza pandemic. A pandemic that killed the usually strongest group; the young adults to adults. The working class. The would-be pioneers, families, scholars and workers. The future. It was heart-breaking to be confronted with your own age group that who were dying like flies. Each week on her way home Evelyn could see the orphanage take in more and more children. Sometimes even the children weren’t spared and neither were the elderly.  
  
Mass graves were dug around whole of London. Bodies dumped. Some burned. It was horrifying even as a nurse who was seen a lot (too much) in the first year she started working in Penbroke Hospital.  
  
She rushed around the corner and noticed just in a time a pair of feet before she collided against its owner. “Sorry,” she excused and looked up. It was Dr. Swansea.  
  
“Ah, miss Walker. Don’t worry about it. I was just showing the hospital to our newest member of staff,” he began with his usual jovial voice that was higher pitched than usual. It tend to be that way when he was telling something exciting. Dr. Swansea stepped a little to the side with a gesture.  
  
The well-clothed man behind him took a small step forward, coming in to her full view of vision.  
  
Evelyn’s stomach churned.  
  
He was tall, towering over Swansea (who was even shorter than her) not just by his length but also his energy. His black hair was combed back, short at the sides, and his beard full but neatly trimmed. Beneath his dark eyebrows a pair of eyes stared back at her. Even though it was hard to determine their color, they were haunting and off. She looked down to escape it, bile forming in her throat and mouth.  
  
“I see,” she began and raised her hand to her mouth.  
  
The man outstretched his hand and started to introduce himself, “I am Doctor-” but before he could even finish his sentence Evelyn squeaked out an apology before running away. She snatched a bucket from a staff member passing by and relieved herself from her stomach contents.  
  
After a few retches with content and several heaves of air later, she felt that the danger of another vomit attack had passed. Evelyn looked to the shocked nurse and shot her an apologetic look.  
  
“Sorry, I will take care of it.” Flushed with embarrassment and because of the retching, Evelyn left. Holding the bucket with content at arm’s length.  
  
Afterwards she would worry what an image she might have portrayed; a nurse with a bloodied apron, beet-red and sweaty. Holding a foul smelling bucket with the tips of her fingers. Very professional Evelyn.  
  
When she finally disposed of it and managed to trade her messed up apron for another clean one and washed her face, hands and neck. Evelyn finally felt a bit presentable. She stood in the doorway of the hospital and took off her nurse cap, stuffing it briefly in one of the pockets of her new pristine white apron as she readjusted her hair.  
  
“Hey Evelyn.”  
  
Soft words caused the woman to glance over her shoulder and met Pippa Hawkins’ eyes, managing a small but fruitless smile on her lips as a greeting.  
  
“Hey Pippa.”  
  
The young dark-haired woman joined her side in silence in the open doorway. It was cold outside, a light drizzle coming down from the dark skies. Evelyn took out the cap from her pockets and fastened it on her head, where it belonged.  
  
The two women stood there for a time, silently. Nurse Crane worked on one of the patients in the tents. The tents were alas a necessity for they lacked beds inside.  
  
“Shouldn’t we just move the stretchers inside? Surely we can make enough room?” Evelyn suggested with a soft voice. “I think it must be horrible inside those tents. What if they leak?”  
  
Pippa handed her a cigarette which she took, sucking on it as her friend ignited the end. The smoke instantly irritated her lungs, but she managed to restrain the coughing. Smoking was not really a habit of hers, but the welcome distraction she needed right now.  
  
Her friend did not answer her, more because of her ramblings were just an outlet of her thoughts. Pippa had known her since the beginning of her ‘career’ at Pembroke. They just clicked then, and became friends quickly.  
  
“How are you doing? I heard you puked-”  
  
“Inside a bucket,” Evelyn said quickly and smiled. “I think it was Lilith, the new girl, whom I snatched it from. She looked quite horrified.”  
  
Pippa chuckled and shook her head, taking another drag from her cigarette. Saying nothing, before Evelyn finally yielded to her question.  
  
“It’s my fourth in three days, Pippa. I don’t know how I should feel. It’s part of the job, I guess.” Evelyn hugged herself, getting cold. She took a slow drag, but even though it was just half gone she then threw it down the steps into a puddle. The taste became vile on her tongue.  
  
“It seems almost futile doesn’t it?” Pippa whispered and took a hail from her cigarette. “Sometimes I wonder what we are doing here. If it even matters.”  
  
“Everything matters Pippa,” Evelyn reassured her (or herself?). Putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We offer even the tiniest chance of hope. We should not let us become depressed and forfeit.” Pippa looked up at her with her green eyes, her doubt visible but being slowly replaced with a determination Evelyn wished she had herself.  
  
“For those who need us.”  
  
“For those who needs us,” Evelyn repeated. Then they hugged. Pippa’s flowery scent and her arms were comforting. They reminded her of the past.  
  
“I’ll go and see Miss Branagan. See if she need any help. See you at break.” And with that Evelyn parted from Pippa and headed back inside. Walking down the corridors she knew at her finger tips towards the surgery room.  
  
On her left, out of the ward, Dr. Ackroyd brushed past her. She picked up snippets of his furious mumbling like; ‘Who does he think he is?’ and ‘Fool’.  
  
She stopped in her tracking with a flush of anger. The kind Dr. Strickland was only trying to help patients just like he and all of them were.  
  
“Could you just stop-”  
  
“There is no need. He was merely talking about me,” an unexpected deep voice interrupted her.  
  
Evelyn’s eyes met those of the man whom she had run away from to empty her bowels. They were less haunting than before and filled with a mirth that was unusual at Pembroke hospital.  
  
He was amused at Dr. Ackroyd’s insults.  
  
“May I ask why?”  
  
He approached her with a few steps and looked in the direction Ackroyd had disappeared to. “I think because I advised him not to complain and accept our different approaches on patients. That he should be open-minded.”  
  
Evelyn looked at him, waiting for a more detailed explanation. The man just shrugged. “Long story.”  
  
“Yeah about that, sorry to run off earlier. I kind of needed to- yeah,” she paused awkwardly.  
  
“I heard. Upsetting a trainee, hm?” There was that twinkle of mirth again. Evelyn could not help but to smile and looked from him to the hallway, thinking back on the girl’s expression.  
  
“Yeah. At least it was not all over her. Been there and that was _not_ nice.”  
  
A hand was stuck out to her, large and calloused. Nails trimmed to the flesh and neat. “Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Doctor Jonathan Reid. As from today I will be working nightshifts here at Pembroke.”  
  
Evelyn took his hand. It was cold. Almost as cold as a-  
  
“I am Evelyn. Evelyn Walker,” she voiced. Forcibly halting her train of macabre thoughts.


	2. Chapter 01

Chapter 01: For those who need us  
  
  
**Emily Dickinson -** _Pardon my sanity, in a world insane._

 __  
  
When the first rays of sunlight escaped the dark clouds above, Evelyn stepped in bed, bare legs sliding beneath the covers. Soft and warm. Her head was muddled, heavy with sleep. But when she laid it down on her pillow the demons began to haunt her.  
  
How long ago was it since she had felt _him_ beside her in bed? Felt his touch on her skin that caused the hairs to rise. His words that inspired her, motivated her into becoming a nurse. Follow a dream.  
  
She turned to the side and looked at _his_ empty spot on the bed beside her. Evelyn scooted over to it and pressed her nose into the pillow, inhaling. His scent had already left the fabric. The last of his notable essence beside photographs and memories.

* * *

The skies were already a feint indigo when she walked across the streets. People were ending their business and were slowly getting indoors as the world grew darker around them.  
  
“Hold, state your business.” A man had walked up to her. Half of his face covered by loose red shawl but his eyes were wary. Before Evelyn could get witty and snap at the guy, he was joined by a larger man with a hat and long coat. Then she noticed the guns on them.  
  
“Easy Harry, it’s one of the nurses. Look,” he pointed at Evelyn’s nurse cap that stuck partially out of her pocket.  
  
“Of Pembroke?” The Harry-guy replied.  
  
Evelyn sighed and rolled her eyes. “Why the sudden interest? Who are you guys and what are you doing here?” She questioned alarmed.  
  
“We’re the Guard of Pri-” Harry began but he stopped when the larger guy put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Nothing, just move along ma’am.”  
  
“The Guard of what? You still haven’t answered my question of what you are doing here?” Evelyn pressed. Something gnawed on her, that this wasn’t right.  
  
“None-of-your-business. Now,” the bigger dude took a step back and motioned for her to walk past him. “Move along.”  
  
Evelyn thought of standing her ground, but she has seen their guns and the guy wasn’t kidding around judging by his tone. Perhaps reporting them to the police next morning? She took a long hard look at their faces then finally huffed and walked passed them with a brisk ‘Fine’.  
  
The whole weirdness of the situation still ate away at her when she arrived at Pembroke and hung up her coat in the Nurse’s Office.  
  
The shift began with Elwood’s ointments for his burned skin. Soothing and massaging it in whilst Thelma Howcroft was in her swoon of being a creature of the night and no one should know her identity.  
  
“Alright, Queen of the Damned. Here is your medication,” Evelyn sighed and presented a small cup with several pills. Thelma held up her hand and tossed her head back with the cup at her lips when given. After she swallowed Evelyn took the cup from her and turned to leave.  
  
“You know,” Thelma began with a low voice. “Has anyone said before that you smelled nice?” Evelyn rose an eyebrow. “It’s ravaging.” Thelma rolled the ‘r’ a bit longer than normal than cocked up her head and laughed before strolling away.  
  
“She bothering you?” Pippa asked, coming up next to you.  
  
“Just getting nuttier by the day,” Evelyn murmured then turned to Pippa with a grin. “Or should I say night?”  
  
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Pippa faked but chuckled anyway. “You met our new doctor already?” She inquired when the two of them walked down the hallway to the Nurse’s Office for a ‘lunch’ break. As far as you could call it a lunch in the middle of the night.  
  
“In fact, I did.” Evelyn replied and poured some fresh coffee that she had set earlier for the two of them.  
  
“So,” Pippa drawled, twirling the mug of coffee in her hands. “What do you make of him?”  
  
“I don’t know what I should make of him,” Evelyn claimed and tried to sip some from her coffee, but quickly pulled back since the liquid was still scolding.  
  
“Do you find him nice,” Pippa summed up. “Handsome, mysterious, skilled..” She let the suggestions float in the air. Evelyn glanced at her friend.  
  
“Do _you_ like him?”  
  
Pippa shrugged and leant forward on her elbows. “He is _something_.” Evelyn could spot a small fluster on her cheeks. Evelyn playfully pushed her and grinned.  
  
“You minx. What about Milton then?”  
  
“Hey! I can look, but I won’t touch,” Pippa winked. Then she pulled her face into a less of a grin. “But seriously, what do you think of this Dr. Jonathan Reid?” She finished her sentence in a posh accent.  
  
“Like I just said; I don’t know what I should make of him yet.”  
  
“Just that?”  
  
Evelyn shrugged somewhat. “I guess. Only met him yesterday, we talked briefly and then I went to help Branagan. He _seemed_ nice.”  
  
“What’s wrong?” Pippa asked and sat up a little straighter.  
  
“There is just something off about him, but maybe it’s just me,” Evelyn slowly murmured. Thinking back at the moment when they shook hands. His was just so freezing she had to think of the bodies she once helped Dr. Chadana with. Devoid of life. The thought was unpleasant and she shivered.  
  
“It’s you,” Pippa said decisive, pulling her from her thoughts.  
  
“Pippa!” Evelyn gasped and gave her friend another playful shove. They were laughing when Strickland and Ackroyd entered the room.  
  
Evelyn’s mind went elsewhere when Pippa asked the question to the colleague doctors. Their responses not registered within her mind. She stood up and went outside the office, heels softly clicking on the pristine white tiled floor.  
  
On the wards there was a silence that was only achieved at a very late (or early?) hour of the day. She glanced on her watch; it was half past 4. Still palming her muck of coffee she strolled through the silent corridors, minding her steps and how she placed her to minimize the possibility to wake up a patient. She paused at the Children’s Ward, that was dark, barren and devoid of a living being and sighed.  
  
“Haunting isn’t it?” A familiar voice spoke from behind her.  
  
Evelyn startled but recovered quickly and glanced over her shoulder to scold the culprit who had startled her. The scolding died on her tongue however when she noticed a familiar pair of eyes of which she could not yet define their colour. She released her tensed eyebrows and nodded wordlessly, her eyes gliding back to the darkness before her.  
  
“Some children went back home because of the plague and to protect them from it. Some went to orphanages because of their parent’s deaths. At one point though whole families were stacked in the room,” she told him with a soft voice. “A lot of those families got torn apart thanks to the flue.” Her voice grew bitten and died at mention the horrible disease. Her mind going to a place she did not want it to go.  
  
“Where were you this shift? I thought you were going to work here in the hospital?” Evelyn asked suddenly and turned back to Dr. Reid. Her tone now sharp and she looked at him with a new vigor, bold.  
  
“I was performing some other tasks outside the hospital,” he explained himself, eyes taking her in. His voice ever so sophisticated and kind. “I am here now, aren’t I?”  
  
Evelyn felt the corner of her mouth tuck. It happened when she felt being put into place. Whether it was justified or not. “Indeed you are.” Who was she, a simple nurse, to judge a doctor’s actions? Perhaps on house visits? A crucial inner voice told her that it was odd. Evelyn noticed that she was becoming suspicious and guarded of this new doctor, despite his kindness.  
  
“May I ask you a question?”  
  
“You may,” she replied.  
  
“I noticed on your records that your surname is Walker-Inglis, but you introduced to me as Walker?” There was something about how his voice echoed against the tiled wales of the corridors. Evelyn had the incredible urge to reply.  
  
“Walker is my own name. Inglis was that of my husband,” she began. “He was Scottish.” Her mouth moving too quickly for her brain to keep up. “He fought in France during the Great War. Unfortunately I have yet to receive a word from him.”  
  
Dr. Jonathan Reid looked at her with sympathy, a look that Evelyn did not like and forced herself to look elsewhere. Anywhere to stop seeing _that_ look. They settled on the floor.  
  
“I apologize if my words have hurt you-”  
  
“It is of no matter. I’ve already put it behind me and settled with that I may never hear from him ever again. Your apologizes aren’t needed.” She droned and spared a look at her watch, trying to appear busy to escape this torture. “Now if you will excuse me, I am still trying to run a ward here and need to return to my duties,” she curtly said. “Excuse me,” and walked passed the good doctor.  
  
“Goodbye, Miss Walker,” were the timid words she heard behind her back as she strode away from him with a thundering and broken heart.  
  
No one had any inkling of what this uncertainty did to her, aside from the other women that shared her fate. It was a like a gaping wound that refused to close, despite all the mending, leaking every now and then. Evelyn somehow did not like that she showed a piece of her soul to this strange new doctor. It felt intruding, unsafe. Yet it was thrilling to finally share just a very little piece of her demons to someone.  
  
Pippa was too much of an idealist and young of heart to share her darkness with. Plus. everyone had their own demons to face so she wouldn’t want to impose. There were more important tasks at hand than to share a piece of your life story.  
  
Was she trying to justify herself for not talking about her shit?  
  
The rest of the shift was uneventful and filled with the regular mundane tasks. Faint streaks of indigo and a smudge of pink coloured the dark skies outside when she approach Mr.  Fiddick’s bed. Everyone on the ward was sleeping, Strickland and Ackroyd were on desk duty upstairs. Perfect timing.  
  
Evelyn kneeled down beside Harvey’s head and placed her hand on his shoulder. She began shaking him.  
  
“Mr. Fiddick,” she whispered and shook harder. The man groaned and swallowed. He moved instinctively away from his hand, his body not yet ready to be woken but was forced to either way with her shaking him. Finally an eye cracked open and he yawned.  
  
“Nurse Walker? Why-” He was hushed quickly with her placing a hand across his mouth. She placed a finger on her lips with a warned look. He needed to be quiet.  
  
She glanced over her shoulder to the rest of the beds, but none of the patients were stirred by him.  
  
“Sorry to have woken you, but I need to tell you something.” Evelyn whispered quickly. “If your hand does not get better.. don’t worry.”  
  
Harvey FIddick’s eyes searched hers. He did not understand what she meant. “What do you-”  
  
“Everything will be taken care of. Don’t worry about your son and daughter. Alright?”  
  
A shimmer of hope and joy erupted in the man’s eyes when the realization hit him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Thank you,” he sputtered against her skin. “T-thank you!” Emotion causing his voice to tremble. Tears slipping between his closed eyelids.  
  
Evelyn felt that her own eyes began to water but held the tears back. She squeezed his hand before she let him go and rose to her full length. She then quietly left the ward, her heels clicking on the floor. She walked towards the Nurse’s Office and entered, softly closing the door behind her.  
  
“He was overjoyed,” she murmured and met Dorothy Crane’s eyes with a smile.  
  
Dorothy smiled back. “Thought so. I’ll go and inform Darius that he can proceed.”  
  
“I still hope that Strickland or Ackroyd can just fix the man instead of this endless bickering,” Evelyn complained and rid herself from the nurse cap and the bun her hair had been fixed in this entire shift. She ran her hands a couple of times through the blond tresses. “It’s pointless.”  
  
“Sometimes life is pointless, that’s why people like us exist,” Dorothy murmured and donned her coat over her shoulders. The pockets jingling just a bit with the vials Dorothy had ‘borrowed’ from the hospital’s stash. It was never a lot, every week just a few vials of everything. Enough to treat those that could not afford the hospital, but also that the hospital would not suffer from it. At first Evelyn was uncomfortable with it, but when the dire reality sunk in she could only do one thing; help.  
  
“We are the people who take action when no one does. Setting things in motion and decision makers for the good of mankind and from our hearts,” Dorothy continued and placed her hands on Evelyn’s shoulders, squeezing them softly. A warm look in Dorothy’s eyes, like a mother looking proudly at her child. Evelyn also grasped Dorothy’s shoulders.  
  
“For those who need us.”  
  
“For those who need us,” Evelyn pledged with her heart.


	3. Chapter 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was awesome..

Chapter 02:  
  
**Jane Austen** – _I was quiet, but I was not blind.  
_  
  
  
  
“Nurse, I-”   
  
“Ssh,” Evelyn hushed softly. The words dying on her patients tongue when she cleansed his forehead from sweat and dirt with a wet cloth. The man closed his eyes and let out a shivering breath at the sensation. Despite that he was sweating, he still felt cold when she touched his cheek with the back of her other hand.  
  
Her lips were pulled in a thin line as she rinsed the cloth on a bowl of fresh clean water beside her. She wrenched the excess water out of it and folded it before placing it on the patient’s forehead.   
  
“You’re fever must go down,” Evelyn informed with her voice low in volume in order not to  disturb the other patients laying near. “I will see if you can get some medication to help with the fever and the pain. Now sleep.”   
  
The man nodded, his eyes still closed. Evelyn took the bowl and stood up. Her footfalls were measured and her strides long as she walked to the next patient and checked his bandages on the right leg. They were still clean and the blood had not seeped through. That’s good. She bent over and inhaled through her nose. She nodded with a small smile when she didn’t detect a foul odor.   
  
The bowl was emptied later in the front yard. Just at that right moment Darius crossed the small courtyard between his house and the ‘hospital’. His face was creased with worry.  
  
“Darius, what’s the matter?” Worry settled like a brick in Evelyn’s stomach.   
  
“Someone came at the door asking around for Dorothy. Tall, dark fellow. I sent him away, but it smells foul,” Darius huffed in het accent. A few words of Romanian followed quickly. Evelyn had the idea that the words weren’t niceties.   
  
“You think someone is trying to sabotage us?” Evelyn questioned alarmed. Immediately her thoughts were on the run on who and why someone would go after them. Also about who could’ve spoken about them out loud. Nowadays even the walls had ears.  
  
One look of Darius made Evelyn’s jaw tense and a crease form between her brows. Darius indeed thought that someone was out there trying to intervene.   
  
“God damn it,” she cursed and wrung her hands in nervousness. “Come, Dorothy needs to know.” They quickly went back inside and up the staircase. She spotted Dorothy in front of the medicine cabinet, making a stock list with what they had and were shortage of. She turned around when she heard their footfalls behind her.   
  
“Darius, Evelyn. What’s wrong?”  
  
“Someone is trying to sabotage us. I just feel it Dorothy. Just then a tall guy I didn’t know asked about you as if he knew you. Where you were and if he could talk to you. I sent him away, but it doesn’t feel right.” Darius took a step forward and took of his bowler hat and turned it around in his hands. A nervous tick of him.  
  
Dorothy was a woman of the people. Hard working, kind and equal. She was also a smart woman that could think ahead and wasn’t easily surprised. Neither was she now, for she merely raised an eyebrow and said; ‘Oh really?’  
  
“I don’t like it, but began to wonder when he would show up at your door Darius.”  
  
“You know him?” Evelyn asked.  
  
Dorothy gave her a look. “You do to. It’s our _famous_ Doctor Reid. He has been strolling around the past couple of nights. Talking to people. Sometimes healing them. I don’t know what he wants yet, but it seems that he smelling something fishy and intends to investigate it.” Judging by Dorothy’s tone, she wasn’t charmed by him either.  
  
Evelyn’s gut churned. Feelings of distrust began to boil inside of it and with it came a foul taste on her tongue. “What now?”  
  
“Now we wait and see what happens,” Dorothy explained with vigor in her voice and fire igniting in her eyes. The drive to help the people, instead of the _patients_ that could pay at Pembroke, flared up. The one thing that drove all three of them and united them. “We still have patients to treat and I think we all don’t intend to stop doing that.” Her fiery eyes shifted back and forth from Evelyn and Darius.  
  
“We’ll wait and see,” Evelyn repeated.   
  
Darius nodded. Then he turned and walked away, down the stairs. Something about what he was emanating told Evelyn that he still worried but did not voice it.   
  
“Evelyn?”  
  
The older woman drew her attention from Darius’ retreating form that now disappeared out of sight down the staircase by the utter of her name.  
  
“I am glad to have you here,” Dorothy mumbled. Her voice much softer. “It’s a nice feeling not to be alone in this shithole.”  
  
“You’re not alone. You also have Darius.”   
  
Dorothy met her eyes and smiled. Her expression was a silent telling of; ‘Darius is not the same as you.’ It made Evelyn chuckle softly and look away. A hand on her shoulder made her look up again.  
  
“I mean it,” Dorothy began. Slightly cut of short by Evelyn.  
  
“I know,” she said with the corners of her mouth tucking upwards in a small smile. “It’s great to be here.”  
  
For a moment they looked at each other without saying anything and with a mutual understanding. They were both there for the people of London. To fight this plague despite their limited means. The people needed it as much as they did; working through their inner demons. It was a hellish time and no one knew how it would end.  But.. so far they were still rather healthy and up and about.   
  
Time would tell if that remained.

* * *

  
The air around her was chilling. Making Evelyn hug herself after she huddled closer in her woolen coat. A shawl covered her neck against the biting wind.   
  
Winter was slowly inching closer on Fall’s doorstep.  
  
There was rain in the air that formed into little tiny pinpricks on her cold cheeks. Her footfalls were hasty on the cobbled streets;  she wanted to be home quickly before the rain really turned into a downpour.  
  
As Evelyn rounded the corner she spotted a group of three men. Two holding torches to shed some extra light on the third that was knocking on a door and calling out to whoever that lived there. The streetlight near them barely revealed their identities for it was flickering and shone weakly.   
  
Feeling uncomfortable, Evelyn casted her eyes down to her feet as she approached the men with the intention to quickly walk past them. In her peripheral vision she could see one of them look at her. His hat was obscuring the light emanating from the torch, causing sharp shadows across his features. He elbowed his fellow torch bearer, causing him also to turn and look at her.   
  
Meanwhile, Evelyn was intensely wishing that they wouldn’t approach her or call out to her. Her wishes went down the train when one of the torch bearers took a few steps towards her with his hand held up in a ‘stop’ sign.   
  
“Hold, miss. You aren’t permitted to walk around here.”  
  
Evelyn looked up and held up her own hands in a submissive gesture. She slowed her stride but kept walking. “I just need to get home. I will be quick about it.”   
  
The man suddenly side-stepped, blocking her way. Evelyn tried to scoot around him but his hand was quick to catch her arm in an iron grip. Her breath hitched in her throat as fear closed around it. When she looked up at his face she could finally see his eyes. They were dark and glinting the torchlight. His frown was a serious one.  
  
“Ma’am, I mean it. You can’t walk past here. It is for your own safety.”  
  
“But I just want to go home. Let go of me.” Evelyn pulled but the man did not release her. Instead he held her tighter to the point it was painful. Over his shoulder she could see the other two approaching them slowly.   
  
“Let **go**!” With a growl Evelyn finally managed to tear herself free from his grasp and immediately shoved him away from her. She then began to run.  
  
“Ma’am DON’T!” One of them called out from behind her, but Evelyn did not stop and kept running. Her shoes pounding on the cobbled stones to the point that it was almost painful on the balls of her feet. But she kept going until she rounded a corner and was sure of it that hadn’t followed her.  
  
Her heart was thundering in her chest, her breath wheezing like whistle. The humidity in the air did not help her catching her breath.   
  
“Damn, I need to work on my condition,” she whispered to herself and resumed her walk through silent and dark streets.  
  
Evelyn rubbed her sore arm, sure of it that it would bruise later on. It was odd, but their warning played over and over in her head. A couple of nights ago there wasn’t any issue getting into this part of town, and now suddenly she wasn’t permitted. Had her district suddenly succumbed to the Flu without her knowledge? In just a matter of days? It seemed impossible, but the whole situation made her uncomfortable and huddle once more deeper in her coat.  
  
The shadows seemed darker than before and the streetlight dimmer than she could remember. Here and there she could hear the scurry of a rat but beside that and her own footfalls it was dead silent. Normally Evelyn would not mind that, but tonight she longed to be home and safe between four walls. She felt her heart drumming in her ears, the blood surging with all her nervousness.   
  
When she turned left at an intersection she knew she was almost home, just a couple of blocks away. In the distance she saw someone hunched over against an abandoned store. With the men in the back of her mind, Evelyn crossed the street in order to keep as much distance between them. When she approached the hunched form became clear that it was a man, perhaps old. He was twitching and strange sounds came from him.   
  
Perhaps a victim of the Flu left out on the street.  
  
Evelyn held back her stride and kept an eye on the man as she passed him on the opposite side-walk. Something about his features made the hair on her arms stand on end. A slight urge to ask him how he was, introduce herself and offer her help gnawed at her, but something about his twitchy movements prevented her from doing that. She felt her breath come out in short burst, her body alert when she resumed her hastened steps.   
  
She nearly jumped when he suddenly stiffened and looked up at her.   
  
The locking of eyes felt like an eternity, but was over in a split second. He started to run towards her with an otherworldly scream that made her instincts kick in. Evelyn heard herself shriek in fright before her body went into flight-mode. RUN!   
  
She could not scream for help, as her heart soared in her ears and adrenaline fueled her legs further on beyond the point of pain. The muscles screamed with fatigue but she kept on running on the empty streets and past dark windows. The man’s breathing was just a ragged as hers but it grew louder with each step. Then he growled like a beast, spurring on her legs and causing an another adrenaline spike. He was so close to her that Evelyn did not dare to look back.  
  
Until she eventually did.  
  
The man reached out to her, fingers shaped like claws, and managed to catch her shoulder at which she gasped in pain when the claws tore her coat and into her flesh like butter. In the momentum the slash unbalanced Evelyn and she fell with a scream on her back. The adrenaline was still working though and she crawled backwards, trying to get on her feet. Blood surging like crazy in her ears. So loud that she could hardly hear her woozy breaths. Her shoulder stung madly and a wet warmth trickled down. She grasped the wound tight with her free hand.  
  
The beast of a man faced her, now hunched over. Up close he did not look like a flu-victim. More a victim of madness and the black plague. Sores and deformities made his face monstrous, along with long sharp looking teeth and sunken eyes that seemed to shine red. It was a monster.  
  
A physical incarnation of a nightmare.  
  
He hunched suddenly, hands up that were deformed into claws and hissed. Before Evelyn could raise herself to a stand the beast launched itself at her, claws outstretched.   
  
Evelyn rolled over to the side in reflex, barely escaped the claws and kicked him in the face. The man howled, stammering back that gave Evelyn the opportunity to crawl away from him and create more distance between them.  
  
The beast turned to her in a flash and hunched again before launching. In her crawling her hand touched something large and solid. A brick. In a split second the beast was nearly upon her. With all her might Evelyn hauled the brick, smacking with a sickening crack against the creature’s head. Bone and flesh shattered beneath the brick, blood splattering on her face. The beast fell on the ground, limp at first but then began to twitch. It growls now weaker.  
  
Evelyn used the moment to crawl on her feet and began to run again. Her legs growing tired as the adrenaline ebbed down. She quickly threw a brief look over her shoulder to see the creature crawling on its feet again, roaring. Behind it suddenly appeared a black cloaked man. Evelyn could not see what happened because she took a quick left, ducking into an alleyway that hopefully led to safety. A blood curling scream spurring on her tired legs.  
  
As she rounded a corner the light of torches nearly blinded her. A group of four with the sign of Priwen on the coats looked at her and grasped for weapons. Evelyn wanted to hurl herself at them, feeling tears of terror brimming on her lashes. “Help!” She cried out, clutching her shoulder.  
  
“There is a beast there. Please help me!” She managed to croak out with heaving breaths and walked towards them. Instead of rushing to aid the men quickly reached out to their weapons.   
  
“Stand back!” One of them shouted and aimed directly at her head.   
  
“W-what?” She stammered, not believing what she just heard. “I-I was attacked, by some monster,” she gently lifted her hand from her shoulder and showed them the wound and her blood. Instead of walking towards her and putting down their weapons at her injury, the men only became tenser and took a few steps back.  
  
“I said STAND BACK.” The man who warned her before did so again. His gun aimed right at her.  
  
Evelyn was flabbergasted. Blank. Shocked. They saw _her_ as a threat. Panic made her heard flutter and she looked at the direction from whence she came. She could not go back there.  
  
“Please,” she whispered and took a small step forward. “I just want to go home- AH!” She screamed when the man fired a warning shot just in front of her feet.  
  
Out of nothing a surge of smoke appeared in front of the shooter and formed into a tall man in just a split second. The man mauled her shooter with just one slash of his claw, nearly cleaving him in two with an enormous amount of force.   
  
It was like hell had unleashed itself and Evelyn stood nailed on the spot. Bullets flew everywhere and men were shouting. The apparition’s _roar_ was bone-chilling as it launched from one man to another. Leaving piles of flesh, bones and blood. It latched itself onto their necks as they howled in death cries and Evelyn’s body stopped working.  
  
Until _he_ glanced back at her, blood dripping from _his_ mouth and familiar but haunting eyes laid upon her. Instead of a well-schooled and educated man, a beast now looked at her. Hiding behind his gaze, nearly blinded by bloodlust and rage.  
  
At that moment Time started to move on again and Evelyn _ran_. Faster and harder than before, terror driving her to the brink of insanity all the way to her home where she barricaded the door. Her body drained but her mind on high alert to the point of madness, she sat on the floor near her bed fighting the urge to crawl under it as her trembling fingers weaved in her hair. Gripping the strands so hard that she nearly tore them out of her scalp. The wound on her shoulder forgotten.  
  
_He_ slaughtered those men like pigs.  
  
Jonathan Reid is a monster.


	4. Chapter 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the Lady put a spell on her. That minx! ;)

**R.M. Drake** – _Fear is the Devil’s greatest illusion._  
  
  
  
The paper was stiff beneath her fingertips as she turned the page. Like it had been wet then dried up again. Despite the faint lighting of her oil lamp, and the fading light outside, the bold lettering was readable.  
  
Evelyn’s eyes scanned the pages. They were filled with desperate cries of families to try and find any inkling of their missing relatives amidst all the news of the war and the rebuilding. Squeezed between all the articles were names. Names of soldiers that had come home and those who were deceased and coming home to be buried beneath British soil.  
  
Her feelings numbed Evelyn closed and folded the newspaper when her eyes could not spot a familiar name. Every day she scanned the papers, and every day she was left empty-handed.  
Evelyn stood up and dimmed the oil lamp before putting on her thick woolen coat, leaving the newspaper on her table. Her eyes landed on her hands and she flexed her fingers.  
  
They were shaking.  
  
Evelyn closed her eyes, the images of men getting their throats torn out by Jonathan were flashing in the darkness right in front of her. She felt her heartbeat began to elevate, panic creeping up on her and opened her lids. Letting out a controlled breath to squash it back down from where it came.  
  
She felt terrified.  
  
Even Pippa beaming at Milton, both sickly in love, when Evelyn arrived at the hospital in the earliest hours of the night shift, could not cheer her up or put her mind at ease. Gwenyth Branagan had been so kind to help clean and stitch up her wound that she had provisionally bandaged at home. The questions that the older woman asked were dodged or unanswered.  
  
For Evelyn truly had no real explanation of the recent events either.  
  
Sleep (or rather the lack thereof) was heavy on her eyelids and weighed down her feet as she climbed up the stairs. It felt as if lead was coating her shoes. Her knuckles rapped sharply on the fancy oaken door where Dr. Swansea’s name plate shimmered on a (probably fake) golden plague.  
  
“Dr. Swansea?” Evelyn called out. She knocked again a rhythm of three.  
  
The door opened, revealing the short man with wide eyes behind his glasses. Behind him Evelyn spotted a red-haired woman, who slowly walked out of view. She looked oddly familiar. Evelyn recalled to have seen her wandering around here and there lately.  
  
“Yes, Nurse Walker?”  
  
Her eyes leveled with Dr. Swansea’s. Shoving the uncertainty, that was gnawing at her the moment she walked out of her front door, down and mustered up her courage. “Sir, sorry for disturbing you. But I have to talk to you about our newest doctor. Dr. Reid. I was wondering if you had time?”  
  
Evelyn had begun doubting her own memories. Did she really see that she think she did? Dr. Reid murdering those people? Sometimes she was sure of it, other times she thought it could have been just a hallucination from fear and pain. Either way, she had the feeling that she needed to warn Dr. Swansea about him..  
  
The said man looked back over his shoulder and nodded, stepping to the side to let her in. “May I also introduce you to Lady Ashbury? A very good friend of mine that has offered her help.” He said and presented the ginger-haired lady Evelyn vaguely recognized.  
  
“Nice to meet you Miss Walker,” the Lady said kindly and held out her hand.  
  
The Lady held herself in such a way that she could’ve been royalty. Straight back, seemingly high-educated, adequate speech. Skin like perfect marble and vibrant green eyes. A true Lady.  
  
“Nice to meet you too Lady Ashbury,” Evelyn repeated just as kindly and grabbed the Lady’s outstretched hand. She nearly flinched for it was almost just as icy as Jonathan’s had been when they first met. Does that mean she.. “I’ve seen you around here a few times, nice to finally meet.” Evelyn continued talking and quickly let go of the Lady’s hand without looking too awkward.  
  
“Well,” Dr. Swansea announced and clapped his hand that nearly startled Evelyn. “Now that the two of you have met, shall I meet up with you later milady?”  
  
“We shall,” the woman confirmed and nodded to him with a small smile. “I’ll speak to you later Edgar. Goodbye, Miss Walker. ” Evelyn bowed her head in farewell and watched the woman leave the room in such a regal matter as was her posture. When the door closed she turned to Dr. Swansea.  
  
“So, you wanted to talk about our good doctor?” Swansea began, but his voice was somewhat reserved.  
  
“Actually I do. For our safety and that of the patients and the rest of staff.”  
  
Swansea sat down behind his desk and she on the chair opposite of it. He folded his hand and looked at her with a serious glint in his eyes. “Tell me.”

* * *

  
Feeling her blood boil and simmer just beneath the surface of her skin Evelyn left Dr. Swansea’s office and closed the door with a little more force than needed.    
  
She wrung her shaking hands as she stormed down the staircase. Unseeing of where she walked, her head and emotions a mess. Evelyn dodged a patient just in time and hurried outside. Her name was called behind her but she chose not to respond. Not now.  
  
Not when her sanity was questioned of what she had seen. Not when her warning was almost made fun off and she was not taken seriously. With any other man, Evelyn would hold her chin up high and dare them to prove her wrong. To investigate themselves.  
  
What hurt especially about this, is that it wasn’t any other man that said she was ‘delusional with fright’ and ‘suffering from mental issues like some nurses in the past’. That she ‘probably had a hard time coping’ and she should take time off. It hurt because it was _Dr. Swansea_. The center point of the Hospital. Motivating staff and patient. Motivating that they could _overcome_ this disease riddled town. That they would _survive_. A beacon of hope.  
  
And he did not believe her.  
  
Evelyn pressed her lips together and sat down next to a sleeping patient in one of the tents outside. It was a bit secluded from the rest, mainly because the patient was terminal and he deserved to die in peace. Evelyn took rag from the man’s sweating forehead and replaced it with a clean one that was drenched in fresh water. To keep the man’s fever to an acceptable level and hopefully make him more comfortable.  
  
She watched the silent rise of his chest. Skin pale and eyes still beneath the lids, still unlike those that dreamt in their sleep. He was far gone.  
  
Evelyn pressed her lips harder together when she felt them tremble. Before she could hold it back a sob escaped her and she covered her closed eyes with her hand. As if she could stop the tears from running down her cheeks like that. It did not.  
  
All the dread and the fear of what had happened the previous night, combined with her anger, humiliation and the sheer fatigue of her body, was forced through her lips in shivering breaths and silent sobs.  
  
It took an incredible amount of restrained not to be straight out bawling. Eventually Evelyn regained her stature and wiped her red wet cheeks clean with her sleeve and let her hand glide over her hair, feeling if every strand was still properly in the bun.  
  
“Hello Miss Walker,” a soft voice suddenly spoke from behind her. Startling Evelyn and she stood up so fast like the stool she had been sitting on was blazing hot. Evelyn turned to meet emerald green eyes.  
  
“Lady Ashbury.”  
  
The eyes looked her over very quickly but Evelyn noticed it. She hoped that the woman would not question her tear-streaked cheeks and just left her be. Her own demons in her head were bad enough already.  
  
“Do you want to talk?” The Lady asked. Her voice more gentle and so were her eyes. Changing from cold and nearly void of emotion to a more warmer spectrum of green.  
  
“About what?” Evelyn shot back with a raised eyebrow. Her voice soft but tone sharp. Evelyn knew it must sound defensive and even snappy, but frankly; she hardly cared at this point.  
  
Emerald settled back on her, looking straight in- no _through_ her. As if she Lady could look right into her soul through the blue windows that were her own eyes. It was as the woman could read her like a book in just a single glance without ever turning a single page. Never physically reaching the end but still _know_ what it was all about. From starting point to finish.  
  
Evelyn instantly knew what the woman meant. ‘ _But how does she knows?_ ’ Her critical inner voice whispered. Her own eyes fell down to her feet, searching inside on how she should respond. Eventually she settled with a soft murmur.  
  
“You won’t believe me anyway.”  
  
“Perhaps I will, perhaps I won’t. But isn’t it better to get if off your chest instead of cropping it up like you have the tendency to do so?” The woman took a step towards her and motioned for Evelyn to sit.  
  
‘ _How would she know that?_ ’  
  
The energy to stand up against the woman, tell her that all of this was of business to her, didn’t rear its head. So Evelyn sat back down on the stool, her eyes focused on her hands that were clasped tightly together.  
  
Lady Ashbury sat down on the bed, just beside the feet of the dying man. “I do not know what happened,” the Lady began. “But what I see is a distressed woman in front of me. Ridden with terror and uncertainty. Is that true?”  
  
The Lady’s words rang true and hit home. A lump formed into Evelyn’s throat and she nodded, silent as tears once again rolled down her cheeks. The lump lessened somewhat when the Lady leaned in and a napkin was presented to her. Evelyn took it with a small ‘thank you’ and dried her cheeks with it.  
  
“You start to question your sanity at one point,” Evelyn whispered, licking the salt from her lips. “Is it true what I’ve seen. The terror sure seemed like and so were the bodies..” Evelyn could not help but scuff at herself. “Hell, perhaps I am developing some mental illness or getting delusional.”  
  
She took a deep breath and looked up into kind green eyes that just observed, and did not judge her in any way possible. It was such a relief to be looked at like that for once.  
  
“Fear is the Devil’s greatest illusion,” The Lady whispered and placed a hand on Evelyn’s cheeks. The sensation made Evelyn’s skin tingle with chill and her mind get strangely fogged. She looked up at the Lady, eyes locking and drawing her in like a moth to a flame. “So what _really_ happened?” Her voice rang in her head whilst the Lady’s lips barely moved.  
  
The desire to tell the Lady was immense. Overruling any other thought and overwhelming her sensations, her being. She spilled, and spilled, and spilled. Every detail, every sensation. And when she was finished Evelyn was completely and utterly drained.  
  
Exhaustion overwhelmed her and caused her to close her eyes and swallow thickly for composure. A hand was placed on her head.  
  
“Thank you for telling me,” The Lady whispered. Her voice so close to her ear that she felt the breath grazing her skin. Evelyn nodded and hummed, too exhausted to answer.  
  
The rest of the shift was a blur to Evelyn. There was almost no recollection on how she got home at the earliest of dawn and landed between the warm sheets of her bed. Her sleep had been dreamless unlike last night, but when she woke up the fog had lifted completely.  
  
Evelyn felt rejuvenated and energetic. Still, as she went about her day, she could not shake off the feeling of uneasiness that she could not put her finger on. When she thought about the attack even those images were scattered, blurry and on the tip of her tongue.  
  
A part of her wanted to shrug it off as a bad dream, but something was wrong. But she did not know what.  
  
Yet.  



	5. Chapter 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see! Bit of a filler, but a necessary one in my opinion. Things are brewing and I'm mulling about which direction I want the story to go to.

**Rune Lazuli –** _Your purpose is hidden within your wounds._  
  
  
  
  
  
“Take it easy,” Evelyn hushed softly when she tipped the water-filled cup to let its contents flow between the greedy lips of her patient. She noticed that he managed to restrain himself, but barely.  
  
The moment he finished the cup and the back of his head touched the pillow again, his eyes closed and his breathing evened out. He was running a very high fever. Evelyn pursed her lips when she placed a small wet cloth on his forehead. Her gut told her that he would soon find peace in the arms of God, or whatever the man believed in.  
  
She let out a shivering breath as she stood up and pressed the palm of her hand hard against her forehead; it was pounding like mad. So intense that even the candle light was unpleasant to her eyes.  
  
“Hey, you alright?” Evelyn opened her eyes, pulling away her hand to look at the person owning the voice. It was Dorothy.  
  
Evelyn swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, think so. Having the worst headache though,” she honestly mentioned. Both of the walked away from the patients to a side room where Dorothy kept most of the medical supplies aside from great quantities of medicine. The stash was in the basement.  
  
Dorothy rummaged through some drawers and sighed, shaking her head in dismay. “I don’t really have something for migraines.”  
  
Evelyn held up her hand. “I understand, I don’t mind. I’m sure it will pass.” Evelyn carefully put herself in a more humble position. She did not want Dorothy to spent the hard earned medicine on her.  
  
“Well, go home and make sure to drink some ginger tea, alright?” A small smile pulled on Evelyn’s lips.  
  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
  
Some nerves that were leftovers from the attack surged through her stomach as Evelyn ventured out in the streets. They were lit once more artificially, but Evelyn could spot streaks of pink in the dark skies above her. Dawn was upon them.  
  
What made her feel just a little more safer was the touch of metal in the pocket of her woolen coat. Her fingers sought it out, and it’s cool and slick surface was comforting. Thanks to Darius she finally had a way to defend herself in the shape of a gun. It was heavier than she thought, but with some tips and practice without shooting it became easier to hold.  
  
At least she could fight back now against those monsters.  
  
What they were exactly, Evelyn could not get her mind around. The wound on her shoulder was evidence of it being real, but her mind was scattered and the images were foggy. She noticed a speck of doubt when thinking about Jonathan Reid being involved in some, or any way in that situation.  
  
Gnawing on her bottom lip in thought Evelyn entered the hospital through the morgue, in order to avoid Nurse Branagan and the others to avoid questions. The urge to talk to Fiddick about his children was too big to pass along.  
  
It felt somewhat weird to walk around through the dark tiled corridors not wearing her uniform. A dark green dress peaking underneath her long woolen coat instead of grey and white. Her stockings black instead of white and her blond hair down her shoulders instead of up in a bun.  
  
Just her luck; Strickland and Ackroyd weren’t around. Evelyn did not exactly feel the need to explain why she was visiting at this ungodly hour without having to work the day-shift. Her footfalls were softly as she ventured in the main ward where the majority of the patients lay. She passed them by quietly, most of them asleep, and her eyes met those of Harvey. Hers observing his that were encircled and deepened with lack of sleep. Only perceptible because of the lone streetlight just outside his window.  
  
She sat down on the empty bed before him and offered her hand. Harvey instantly took it and squeezed. The reflection of the light in his eyes turned hopeful. She felt her lips curl into a smile and she squeezed his hand back.  
  
“Are they safe?” He dared to whisper.  
  
Evelyn nodded. “They are. They are staying with a lovely lady. Once you get better, I will take you to them.”  
  
Harvey let go of her hand and pressed his own against his mouth. She spotted the wetness of tears on his cheeks in the light coming from outside. She sighed and smiled. Leaning forward she hugged him, one that he returned. His whole being oozed relief and gratitude. The pain in her shoulder was worth it.  
  
“For those who need us,” she whispered to him.  
  


* * *

  
The headache had not passed after a good night (day?) of sleep. Though it had dwindled in strength and she felt invigorated, there was still the silent thump of it bothering her when she concentrated or in harsh lighting.  
  
What wasn’t helping was that the hospital hallways contained such harsh and bright lights that had Evelyn squint to the point that her headache even worsened. Because of the squinting. It’s so wonderful that your body works that way.  
  
Pippa tutted at her in an disapproving way when she fashioned her nurse cap in such a way that it shielded her precious sight from the bright white light that wanted to burn her eyes out of her sockets.  
  
Evelyn thought it was creative.  
  
Pippa thought it was unprofessional. But the chuckle she made was a dead-give-away that this surely had to be made a fashion item in the future. Perhaps with different prints and logos.  
  
Even Thelma reacted positively on it. Claiming that it was a nice way to protect her sight from the ungodly light of the sun and dousing her in the darkness that she craved and needed. Great for you Thelma.  
  
After an hour though, the edge of her nurse cap made a nice indentation in the skin of her forehead. So that didn’t help.  
  
When the ending of her night shift approached, the hospital was asleep and she and the remaining nurses were doing their rounds at their assigned wards. The darkness was welcoming and felt safer between the four walls of the hospital. So welcome that Evelyn took a seat in at the desk of the nurse station that was situated in a small nook in the dark corridor. The wall behind her, which was very pleasant and increased her sense of safety. So was the book she was reading, the pages illuminated by a small desk lamp.  
  
On her watch, time was creeping close to 4am. With a groan Evelyn stood up and dog-eared her book before closing it. Final round.  
  
Despite safety of the hospital walls. It felt different walking through the darkness, than sitting in the darkness with a book and a light. The torchlight she held illuminated enough in front of her and the ward as she quietly passed and checked on the sleeping patients in the wards near her nurse station. Careful not to wake everyone up. When she exited the ward and closed the door quietly to return back to her nurse station, she paused midstride and the rhythm of her heart increased.  
  
The embodiment of Jonathan Reid was standing at her desk, her book in his hands and his back turned to her.  
  
It was just like that moment. Amidst the scattered images of that fateful night the familiar black clothed back of Jonathan drifted to the surface of the thick syrup that are her memories. It was matching the here and now.  
  
“Mr. Reid?” Her voice was hesitant.  
  
His attention shifted from the book to her and he turned around so quickly that Evelyn’s hand automatically went to her side, of where her coat pocket must have been to find the cool metal with her fingertips. But instead she found nothing but the fabric of her skirt. Of course she wasn’t wearing a coat indoors and at work.  
  
There wasn’t a feral gaze when his eyes met hers. The blue nearly invisible because of the darkness, but she spotted his eyes shift to her hand on her side and back to her face in a mere blink. The mouth that turned into a small smile in greeting wasn’t dripping with blood. Evelyn swallowed and looked down at his feet for a second to compose herself and release her building tension. The fear of the that night simmering on the surface and making her head throb and her heart pound in her chest.  
  
“Ah. Good evening, Miss Walker. I was hoping to meet you here.”  
  
“Well, here I am. Is something wrong with one of the patients?” Evelyn talked her tenseness away and walked towards him trying to act casual, despite everything in her body telling her not to. It wanted to keep as much distance between them as possible and it felt wrong not to listen to her instinct.  
  
“There isn’t, but I appreciate your sense of duty,” Jonathan answered with a small chuckle. He handed her the book she was reading. “Frankenstein is one of my favorites.”  
  
“Well, it’s mine too. Read it several times but never gets old. Haven’t seen the movie yet though.” Evelyn murmured and looked at the grizzly title of her favorite book. Noticing she was distracted, Evelyn put the book down on the desk and looked up at the doctor.  
  
“So why are you here?” She asked with more vigor in her voice. Her anxiety made her cross her arms across her chest to restrain herself from fidgeting.  
  
His eyes searched hers, observing her she noticed. “I was wondering on how you felt. I heard from your friend Pippa that a headache has been plaguing you as of lately.” He paused for a moment. “How is your shoulder?”  
  
Evelyn looked up, meeting his searching gaze with hers and felt her emotions battling with each other. One of her hands touched her injured shoulder as the sensation of how it happened flashed before her minds-eye. Then she knew.  
  
She was scared, but with that fear there was also a rage flickering at the edge because of the monster that stood before her, hidden behind the kind pale blue glint that also held a profound sadness within.  
  
He had killed those men. Latching onto their necks, blood everywhere. Her heartrate increased.  
  
Evelyn had doubted herself, questioned her sanity these past few days. But in this very moment as she looked into his eyes she knew. In her heart she knew that her mind and memories were true. The fogginess that coated the memories instantly cleared and it all came back in the fullest of forces.  
  
She then closed her eyes, breaking off their contact and let out a breath, stilling her emotions, head and heart in that moment. “My shoulder is fine, Dr. Reid,” she lied. “It’s healing very slowly, but steadily.”  
  
“I see. Let me know how it develops, alright?” She reopened her eyes, glancing at him briefly before she let her gaze settle on her book and nodded. It seemed that he had no inkling about what she had experienced just now.  
  
Good.  
  
“Have a good night, Miss Walker.”  
  
“Same to you, Dr. Reid.”  
  
She heard him walk around her towards the corridor that ventured into the hospital to the other wards and after a few strides she let her eyes raise and watch his retreating back.  
  
Determination settled in her gut. She had to protect everyone. She had to prove it.  
  
Dr. Jonathan Reid was a real monster. Hidden behind human eyes. And Evelyn would tear of the mask, expose it to the light of the sun.  
  
“For those who need us,” she seethed between her teeth and clenched her fists.  
  


* * *

  
In the following day and nights Evelyn was running her shifts in the hospital and in Whitechapel with Dorothy Crane. She had shared with the woman and Darius her doubts about the good doctor. They had no opinion but they did not put down her ideas either.  
  
In her spare time Evelyn was looking up multiple diseases that could make a human attack others in a fit of bloodlust and rage. Perhaps rabies? She even flicked through some that were closer to myths and superstitions than real medical conditions. Perhaps it was treatable, what Dr. Reid could suffer? Perhaps it was a mental disorder?  
  
The longer she searched, the more determined she got. Her list of possible diseases getting longer, with most of them being crossed out later on as the likelihood of it being contracted by Reid, or with him suffering from a disorder, almost seemed impossible and didn’t add up.  
  
One night she was sitting outside. The fresh air cooling her flushed face of exertion to a point that she almost shivered. Her hands were folded on her lap as she watched Nurse Branagan and Lady Ashbury go in and out tents. Voices hushed to not wake those who slept. Milton was talking to Rakesh. Suddenly Milton grabbed a suitcase and showed its contents to which Rakesh was raising eyebrows.  
  
“It seems that God has heard my prayers.”  
  
Evelyn almost startled, but could still her fright just in time. She looked up to see Sean Hampton. The Sad Saint.  
  
His wounds were slowly healing, but the pastor was still deathly pale to the point that he shouldn’t even be out of bed. Normally Evelyn would have flung up and ushered him back inside and scold him for being up and about in his condition. But at this moment Evelyn did not have the energy.  
  
The look on her face must have told him ‘why?’ because he smiled weakly and looked up to the dark skies. “Because it stopped raining.”  
  
Just when he finished his sentence Evelyn felt something small and wet fall on her face. A drop. Sean Hampton chuckled. “I think He has enough of it.”  
  
“Apparently so,” Evelyn curtly said, getting somewhat aggravated with the pastor’s presence. She had longed for some solitude, but apparently her forehead screamed; ‘LOOK! THE NURSE IS HERE TO HELP YOU ALWAYS AND ALWAYS.’ She stood up, grabbed her stool and went inside. The pastor following her and watched her put the stool in a corner. The place where she got it from.  
  
Evelyn met Mr. Hampton’s gaze. “Can I help you? Before I usher you back to bed?” Her tone was low and showing more of her aggravation than she originally meant, but the outing of her irritation to the disturbance of her solitude felt good.  
  
There was slight twinkle in his emerald eyes, despite the dark circles surrounding them. The mirth in it irked her more than it should.    
  
“I feel like I should ask the same question, _Nurse Walker_.” He addressed her, the mirth still lingering but his tone not quite matching that. Underneath the utter of her function and name there was a serious undertone. “The wing of the hospital where I and several other patients reside could not but to overhear your.. _discussion_ with Dr. Strickland and Ackroyd.”  
  
Evelyn pressed her lips tightly together. Her argument about Harvey Fiddick and the lack of treatment still fresh and in the forefront of her mind. It angered her and she spilled some of it on the doctors that were supposed to _treat_ him instead of arguing about it.  
  
“I am fine pastor, just trying and hoping to find some solitude to still my mind,” Evelyn spilled somewhat. Deciding to be a bit honest. “Now if you will excuse me?”  
Before she could turn around and leave, a hand touched her sore shoulder but did not grasp her. She could not help but flinch her arm away and feel alarmed.  
  
The reaction was instinctive and natural after her attack, since the area was still very painful to touch like it had just been ripped open. It wasn’t healing properly and took way too slow. It worried Evelyn. But there was also some apprehension to show it to her colleagues and Dorothy. Something in the back of her head told her that she shouldn’t.  
  
The pastor regarded her silently, with no judgement in his eyes. Not even the pity that she loathed. It was refreshing.  
  
“Pray with me, child.”  
  
He walked, more like stumbled, ahead of her to a secluded section of the hospital wing where he resided. Evelyn felt somehow compelled to follow him, despite that she was not a religious woman. Behind a screen curtain he sat on his bed and patted on the spot next to him.  
  
When Evelyn sat down, Sean reached for his rose petal inside of his robes and folded it in his hand. The dark beads a stark contrast against his pale hand. He shifted so that he half faced her and painted a cross in front of her head with the hand holding the rose petal beads.  
  
Instinctively Evelyn let her eyes fall close and folded her hands on her lap. The tip of his fingers rested upon her forehead. They were freezing cold.  
  
“Dear Lord,” Sean’s voice softly prayed. “Let us heal underneath Your touch when Time could not. Let us sit here and be blessed with Your presence. Accept our humbleness beneath Your mercy. Let us be thankful for it.” He paused for a moment.  
  
“Dear Lord, O great Lord, grant this woman before me the solitude and peace she seeks for she needs it. Grant her the love that she gives to the patients and those around her, but not to herself. Bestow your wisdom upon her so that she makes the right choices when You, O Lord, decide to test her in her darkest of times.”  
  
  
  
**Amen.**  


**Author's Note:**

> Liked it?  
> Please review!


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